4 Chinese Govt Ships Enter Japanese Waters around Senkakus

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--Four Chinese coast guard ships sailed in Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa for about one and a half hours on Thursday.

It was the first intrusion into the territorial waters around the island group by Chinese government ships since Aug. 25 and the 20th this year.

The four Haijing ships crossed into the waters north-northwest of Uotsurijima, an island in the Senkaku chain, between around 4:10 p.m. (7:10 a.m. GMT) and 4:25 p.m., according to the Japan Coast Guard's 11th regional headquarters in the Okinawa capital of Naha.

The Chinese vessels left the waters west-southwest of the same island between around 5:45 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The Japanese-administered islands are claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]